Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Norwegian cartoonist Jason can always be relied on for a damn fine looking book and his latest is no exception. Slightly thicker than his recent Low Moon but not as orange, Almost Silent is a big bumper hardcover collection of four old Jason graphic novels - three of which have been out of print for nigh on two years.

“As the title says, a lot of the comics are without text. In the beginning it was something I did to reach outside of Norway, to skip the whole problem of language. Then I realised it was something I liked doing, it was easier for me to work without text, it was easier to improvise stories.”More of that in his Newsarama interview, some pictures over at Fantagraphics’ Flickr, a video of a man and a review if you fancy it. Uninformed you are not.

While we’re on the subject of reprinted classics you can find a whole lot more of them in the Judge Dredd Restricted Files Volume 1 which collects rare bits and pieces that have been out of print for about thirty years or so. There’s stuff by John Wagner, Alan Grant, Brett Ewins and more so if you like a bit of 2000AD you can’t really go wrong with this one.

By far the oddest thing to arrive this week is Static Revolver #1 by Kevin Ward (his website) and Lord Hurk (his blog), together known as The Fancy Butcher (them). It’s the first parts of two serialised stories – one about a dentist uncovering the mysteries of Enchanted Island under sugar prohibition and one a late-night B-movie caper about aliens and disappearing tea. Hurk’s a favourite ‘round these parts and was last seen on the Gosh! Blog when his Urgent Telex arrived; those are all gone now but we do have some Liberty Pug if you’d like one.

The latest volume of the critically acclaimed graphic mixtape Popgun has hit the shelves and it’s a doozy. The list of creators is (as usual) far too enormous to stick mid-blog but you can see the full credits over at their site. It includes the likes of Jeffrey Brown (Clumsy), Jock (The Losers), Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), and Ben Templesmith whose new ongoing series Choker begins on Thursday too (see?). Have a preview of Tom Scioli’s (Godland) contribution, and Frank Stockton’s lovely looking Hamburgers For One the 24-page centrepiece of the book. Over at Newsarama they give you the lowdown on what this thing is all about (in short, all sorts of things) and CbR gives you preview pages ‘til you can take no more.

Hamburgers For One

Paul Grist has Popgun previous but this week you can see him doing his usual Jack Staff stuff, which according to Comics Alliance is stuff you should most definitely read. We’ve now got the fourth Jack Staff trade-paperback Rocky Realities which collects everything that hasn’t yet been collected thus bringing you bang up to date and ready for the rebranded Weird World of Jack Staff #1.

“The intention is to cue readers into the idea that the comic isn't just about Jack Staff, but also the story of the other characters who inhabit that environment, such as Tom Tom the Robot Man, Becky Burdock and Q. I think readers sometimes expected Jack Staff to be the main focus of the story and were initially confused by the jumping around from character to character. I'm still going to be doing that -- but this time, the title will reflect the comic a bit more!” says Grist in an interview with CbR. Have a preview too.

Back last year when we heard that King Tut from the 1960s Batman TV show was going to be making an appearance in Batman Confidential we made sure you all knew about it. If you missed it, that story arc is now collected in a trade called Batman: King Tut’s Tomb written by Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippis and illustrated by the reliably brilliant Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan. Here’s a preview of Batman Confidential #26, the first bit in the book. Highly recommended despite the lack of shark repellent.

In comics this week the grim doings continue in Blackest Night #7 written by Geoff Johns. Johns was also, oddly, a special guest co-writer on last week’s Tiny Titans #25. Apparently you have to read it right after Blackest Night #7 to get the in-jokes in the issue which Johns is calling Blackest Night #7.34 in brightly coloured letters. We’ve still got a few on the shelf if you fancy it.

In this week’s Walking Dead #70 you’ll find another piggy-backed preview - this time in full colour! TURF is a four-issue miniseries written by none other than Jonathan Ross and drawn by Tommy Lee Edwards (Marvel 1985) which Kirkman reckons is a must read for any Walking Dead fan. It’s a hard boiled crime thriller set in Prohibition-era New York only there’s vampires and aliens added to the usual mix of booze, broads and bullets. You can expect TURF #1 in April.

One more bit and then we’re done: over the last week no less than three creators popped in and signed some books for us. We’ve now got the 45 (previously mentioned here) signed by Andi Ewington, Chase Variant One-Shot (Is All I Need) signed by Rich Johnston (who talks about it with CbR – the comic that is, not the experience of popping into Gosh! and scribbling his name on things), and A Study in Scarlet signed by Gosh! Favourite Ian Edginton. Why not grab a Hound of the BaskervillesBookplate Edition to go with it? Come get ‘em before they go!